Fenris's entrance had ended up being somewhat more impressive than he had originally intended but he had decided to ride on it to the end. When he was chasing the last of the group he'd finished back to their leader he got into view of the Alienage again. Not able to tell what he'd been expecting it surely hadn't been that small group being the only ones standing, fallen bodies littering the silent street. Fenris wasn't easily fazed however, something he'd learned early on in his former service, so he had instantly assumed an intimidating air and threatened the captain to flee, an opportunity the man hadn't realized to grasp. Instead he had accused Fenris of being a slave, and while technically true that was the one thing that broke through even his strongest self control. He had executed the man then and there, almost by instinct, with the cruelest way he knew forgetting everything about good impressions or intentions.
When Fenris had turned to face his helpers he had realized it was time for explanations. He could have spun any tale but after the accusation of the hunter captain, accusation he so brutally had dismissed, it would have been that much harder and with the truth he could at least try to play on their compassion. That or greed, although even if he could have given bold promises his funds were rather limited. Enough to settle questions of false item to be fetched but not near enough for the fight of this magnitude. He hadn't betrayed any of these inner doubts when answering to this humans numerous questions which, while they could have been passed as annoying curiousness, he took as healthy interest towards the situation they had been thrown in. Ignoring the mage on the background had been harder but he had been reminding himself that he hadn't seen this girl drawing blood to power her spells, nor was she in charge either.
A quick question about the contents of the bait had confirmed it to be just as he assumed, just a trap although he'd surprised himself by being a bit disappointed. Had he really believed he could finally get some insight of his condition? He had mentally bashed himself of this show of weakness while searching the captains body in the lack of better distraction. It had proven fruitful though giving him implication that his ultimate target, Danarius, was withing his reach. Fenris had struggled to contain the rage that was building inside him towards the man who had caused his endless suffering, in the favour of talking these adventurers lend him their continued help. The past with the magister had taught him that, while he had been the mans most powerful weapon, he was not all that helpless even without his little wolf. And it would have been stupid to perish due overconfidence now that he'd come so close. The rational side of his mind had also reminded him that it could could be just another trap as well.
The group had been surprisingly eager to continue helping him, seeing how they had been tricked on the job already, although not strictly by Fenris himself. The group leader had been curious about his intentions with Danarius though, and his answer had finally shown all the bitterness and rage he had felt. Regardless, for a promise of coin they had agreed to follow him to the manor in Hightown and help within. Had they not asked for reward he would have doubted their intentions, after all the world didn't run on compassion alone. Only the city guard in the group would have wanted to help him free of charge but that probably came with her position, to help the oppressed. The groups way to express their opinions freely had piqued Fenris's interest. In his former service he had been used to the reality that slaves never expressed opinions towards their masters, and even in various mercenary and hunter groups he had encountered later on the men had rarely voiced doubts of the decisions of their leaders. This kind of solidarity had reminded him of something else, of those people that had been the firsts to show him the road to freedom. While this little leader hadn't agreed with all her people, she seemed to have respected and valued their opinions nonetheless.
When they had reached the Hightown Fenris had parted the group to go to scout the place beforehand. Nothing suspicious had been laid out however, if you didn't count occasional fake guardsman that had plagued the Hightown streets lately, so Fenris had had ample time to device the strategy while waiting the others. All of that planning had been blown away though when he finally had got in to the mansion, and had felt the revenge was near. All the rage he had tried to contain blew through and he'd stormed forward alone if the presence of that woman, Hawke, wouldn't have been so commanding. She'd reminded him that it was them who were taking the risk, and thus it would be done in their terms. It was she that went ahead to scout and to disarm traps and only then would she agree to let them move forward.
When they had found first shades he'd been sure the group would be terrified but to his surprise they had dispatched them like they were any other thugs. Only then had he found out from their comments afterward that the Fereldens of the group, that being all the others except the dwarf, had already fought against and killed numerous darkspawn as well as an ogre while fleeing their home. That had explained the results in the Alienage of course, although it still had left Fenris to wonder how it could work, without a structure of any kind. Apart from rare commands from Hawke they all seemed to do whatever and just by sheer luck had managed to support each other. He had seen groups that fought wordlessly as one before but that had been clearly a result of years practice. This was something else and Fenris had felt an unnatural longing to belong to this group, to be part of this kind of unity by independence. The burning rage had pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind though while they had advanced through the eerily empty halls battling with the denizens of the Fade.
-o-
Fenris looked at the now empty bottle of cheap wine he had been drinking for the past hours. Intoxicating himself was not the best idea, especially if he was still supposedly pursued. He wondered what had broken him out of his reverie when he heard the clattering noise again. One good thing with the mansion being in the shape it was, it served as an alarm as well. Only the deftest intruders were able to sneak past the entrance hall without causing a sound. Hawke was one of those, he reminded himself while grabbing the giant sword he never left out of his reach. When he got down the stairs he found Merril who was looking around clearly unsure of where she was. By her own word she had been looking for Merchants Guild but had probably taken a wrong turn or two. Fenris sighed heavily when he showed her out and pointed the correct way. He'd never liked the elven mage but since he'd not heard of her using magic at all since arriving Kirkwall he just tried to pretend she didn't exist. With her poor sense of direction that was hard though as you never knew where she might end up. He returned back upstairs to try and get some sleep before the next day.
Ended up with a bit longer one this time, seems I'm picking up the pace. Not that I seem to get anywhere, hopefully the slow advancing doesn't bother.